Live and Learn
by elgeyer
Summary: Growing up is hard to do, but you live and you learn. Follow the life and struggles of eleven year old Vada Curtis. (Pronounced Vay-da)
1. Chapter 1

"Vada Curtis, are you listening?"

My head shot up, snapping me out of my day dream. Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts, but I just can't help it. I guess I'm a lot like Ponyboy in that way and it annoys Darry something fierce.

"Yes, Mrs. Morris." I replied and looked around and saw everyone's stares, making my cheeks go red.

"I know there's only three weeks left of school, but it's not quite summer yet. Now, pay attention." She reprimanded and gave me a hard look.

I quietly nodded and Mrs. Morris turned back around to write on the chalkboard and continue the lesson. I stole a glance over at my best friend Jenny and she gave me a small smile, knowing how embarassed I was. Jenny had been my friend for as long as I can remember. Her and her parents didn't live in the same neighborhood as me and my brothers and they didn't struggle with money like we did, but they weren't rich and had always been very nice to me. I couldn't wait for summer vacation to come and spend all of my time playing with Jenny, just like we do every summer.

Soon enough it was finally the end of the school day and Mrs. Morris dismissed us. Jenny and I walked down the hallway and out the front doors of the school together.

"Mrs. Morris seemed real grumpy today." Jenny said.

"Mrs. Morris always seems real grumpy." I giggled.

"If Mrs. Morris was one of the seven dwarfs, she would definitely be Grumpy!" We both started laughing out loud, the thought of Mrs. Morris as a dwarf has us rolling.

When our laughter died down I turned to her with a smile and said, "If you were one of the dwarfs, you'd be Happy."

She smiled back, but then started giggling again. "Well, you'd be Dopey!"

"Hey!" I playfully shoved her as we both laughed some more. We heard a car horn honk and looked over to see Jenny's mom pulling up the car to pick her up.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" She started walking towards the car and her mom, Laurie, waved at me. I smiled and waved back.

"See ya!" I yelled to Jenny. She got in the car and her and her mom drove off.

I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and it made me jump. I turned around and saw Two-Bit who let out a loud laugh.

"Well hey there, Miss Vada!"

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and smiled up at him. I liked Two-Bit. He was one of my brothers' friends and always made me laugh. Even though he was 8 years older than me, he never seemed to mind talking to me and would sometimes play games with me when I was bored.

"Hey, Two-Bit."

He laughed again. "Man, you should have seen your face!"

"It wasn't funny!" I said, but couldn't keep my own giggles from escaping my mouth.

"You ready to head home?"

Two-Bit helped my brothers out by picking me up and giving me rides home from school when Darry and Soda worked and Pony had track practice at his school and couldn't walk me home. Darry was never very fond of the idea of me walking home by myself, even though I was eleven. It made me kinda angry, but I didn't mind rides home with Two-Bit.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Then let's get outta here."

We walked over to where his truck was waiting and hopped in. On the drive home, Two-Bit was telling me his crazy stories of what he had done at school today and, even though I didn't really believe half of what he said, I enjoyed listening to them anyway. We pulled up to my house and he stopped the car.

"Thanks, Two-Bit." I said as I closed the door to the truck. I started walking up to the house and turned around and gave him a wave.

"See you later, Little Curtis!" He yelled through the open window of the truck and took off.

I walked inside, taking off my shoes and set my backpack on the floor. It was heavy today. Mrs. Morris gave us quite a bit of homework today and I wasn't looking forward to it. I got decent enough grades, but it was Pony who was always the smart one. Darry was always pushing for me to get A's like Pony did, but sometimes I just didn't understand stuff. School could be hard.

I sat on the couch and watched tv for a while until I looked at the clock and noticed it was already four-thirty. My brothers would be coming home real soon. Darry wouldn't be too happy if he knew I haven't done my homework yet.

I sighed and frowned as I got up off the couch to grab my backpack and headed off to my room to try and do my homework.

When I got into my room, I climbed up on my bed and took out my books and my notebook, deciding to start on Math. I copied down the problems, but once I started to try and solve them, I just couldn't focus. We were learning about fractions and it confused me to no end, not that I was really listening in class today anyway. After staring at my notebook for what felt like hours, I heard the front door open and Soda and Pony come inside the house. Seconds later there was a knock at my door was opened to reveal Soda.

"Hey, Vada, how was school today?"

"Hi Soda. It was ok. I don't know, I couldn't really pay attention today and Mrs. Morris sort of yelled at me." I didn't have a problem telling this to Soda. I told him everything. And I knew he wouldn't tell Darry.

"Aw, I don't blame ya. It happens!" He smiled and walked in, sitting down next to me on my bed. He looked down at my notebook and saw I hadn't done any of the problems yet. "You having a rough time?"

"Yeah...I'm trying, Soda, I really am!"

He squeezed my shoulder. "I know you are, kiddo."

I heard the engine of the car as it pulled up to the house and knew Darry was home. I sighed and looked at my notebook again.

"I just don't get it."

Soda gave me a sad smile. "It'll be okay...How about you ask Darry for help?"

"Maybe." Depends on how upset Darry would be with me. I'll admit, this had happened a couple times now within the past two weeks and he didn't take too kindly to it. He said he was tired of me "slacking off" and said I was to do my homework when I got home from school. I didn't understand why since I'd have all night after supper to do it, but those were Darry's rules, and I would just get in trouble when I tried to argue about it with him.

We heard Darry walk through the door and Soda stood up from his spot on my bed. "C'mon, we better go help Darry with supper. I'm starving!"

I got up and followed him out to the kitchen, afraid of what Darry would say when he asked if I had done my homework. But I was also glad to not have to be staring at my notebook anymore.

At least for a little while.


	2. Chapter 2

Supper was made and we all sat down to eat. Darry hadn't asked about my homework yet, but I knew it was coming.

"How was work today, Sodapop?" Darry asked.

"Oh, it was great, Dar. You shoulda seen the car me and Steve got to fix up today..." He continued to tell Darry about the car, but I spaced out and continued to eat. I didn't know cars the way Soda did and it all went over my head, but I was hoping he would just keep talking for the rest of our supper.

Once Soda was finished telling him about his day, Darry asked Pony how his track practice was.

"It went well. Coach was timing me today and I beat my personal record for the 400 meter. He thinks I'm a shoe-in to qualify for State, but the Preliminaries are this Saturday, so I guess we'll see." He answered humbly, but you could tell he was really excited about it.

Darry smiled big. "I'm real proud of you, Ponyboy. I can't wait to see you compete on Saturday. I have no doubt you'll make it to State."

Pony beamed. It wasn't often that you got a compliment from Darry like that and I knew it meant a lot to him.

"Yeah, Pony, you're gonna kill it! Leave your competition in the dust! We'll all be cheering for you from the stands." Soda chimed in and now Pony's cheeks were starting to blush from all this attention.

That's when Darry got to me.

"How was school today Vada?"

I tried not to sound nervous. "It was good."

"Did you get a lot of homework today?"

I knew it. I knew it was coming. I sunk a little bit in my chair. "...yes."

"Did you get it done like I asked?"

I was afriad to answer. I could lie and say I got it done, but then Darry would have me show it to him so he could check it over. But I was afraid to say no because I knew he would be mad. The conversation was silent as I contemplated what to say to him, but I guess I was taking too long to answer and my silence had already said enough.

"Vada...answer me." Darry said firmly.

"...no, I didn't."

The look he was giving me made me sink even lower into my chair.

"What have I said about getting your homework done when you get home?! Vada, I have told you so many times now and I am getting tired of it!"

"But, Darry, I did try! I really did!"

"Well, what did you do when you got home, then?"

"Um...I watched some tv, but-"

He interrupted me. "So you didn't even try to get it done!"

"But I did try!"

"I don't wanna hear it, Vada."

I was getting close to tears. He wasn't listening to me and it was making me really frustrated.

"Well, I don't see why I have to get it done right after school anyway!" I snapped. I knew I shouldn't be getting sassy with him, but I couldn't help it.

Darry's voice got a little louder. "You're in no position to talk back to me, little girl, so cut it with the attitude!"

"But you're not listening to me!"

Soda stepped in. "She really did try Dar. She was in her room working on it when I came home." Darry couldn't ever get mad at Soda.

After a couple seconds of silence passed, Darry sighed. "As soon as you're finished with your supper, you are to go straight to your room to do your homework and no coming out until it's done. Is that clear?"

All I could do was nod, afraid to say anything else. I was so thankful for Soda.

I finished my supper in silence and immediately headed to my room, glad to be away from the tension with Darry. My notebook was open where I left it and I wasn't ready to be staring at those math problems again, so I pushed them aside and took out my homework for English and got to work.

An hour and a half had passed and I was pleased to see I had gotten all of my other homework done, but now I didn't have anything else to do except my math. I grabbed my notebook and math textbook and started looking at all of the fractions again, hoping maybe somehow I would be able to understand them now, but with no such luck. It looked like just a bunch of jumbled numbers to me. How was I supposed to be able to add and subtract them?

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and I started to cry. There was no way I was going to be able to get this done! Why couldn't I just understand it? I felt so stupid and it made me upset with myself. I remembered back to Soda's suggestion earlier of asking Darry for help, but wasn't sure I really wanted to. Pony was real smart and I could ask him to help me, but when I had done that in the past it never went well. Pony would always get frustrated with me and we'd end up in an argument. I didn't want to have to go ask Darry, but I also wasn't sure how much longer I could stay in here. I quickly wiped my eyes and grabbed my notebook before opening the door and walking out of my room.

Darry was in the living room sitting in his chair and reading the newspaper. I didn't see or hear Soda or Pony anywhere. Darry must have let them go out somewhere. I nervously approached my oldest brother, unsure of what he would say.

"Darry?"

He kept his eyes on his newspaper. "I thought I told you to stay in your room."

Part of me wanted to turn around and go back to my room right then and there, but I knew I had to be brave.

"...I need help." I quietly said as I sniffled.

Darry looked up at me and his expression softened a little. I knew he could tell I had been crying. He folded his newspaper and set it down next to the chair as he stood.

"Let's sit at the table and have a look." He said and guided me to the kitchen table. We sat down and I showed him my notebook with all of my math problems written down. As he looked them over, a few more tears started to fall down my cheeks.

"I just don't get it Darry! I've been trying so hard to understand them, but I can't! I feel so stupid!" I cried, feeling frustrated with myself again.

"Hey," Darry said and started rubbing my back, "you're not stupid. Don't ever say that." He let me cry for a mintue, but then I felt him move to get up. "I have an idea." I watched him as he went over to the silverware drawer and pulled out a bunch of forks and spoons. He started setting them down on the table and I looked at him confused.

He let out a small laugh at seeing my expression and sat back down. "Dad had done this with me back when I was your age and started learning fractions and it stuck." I smiled at the mention of our Dad. Honestly, we didn't talk about our parents very often. It hurt too much. But at the same time, hearing memories of them never failed to make me smile. I missed them so much.

Darry started using the silverware as a visual aid to represent the numbers of the fractions. As he walked me through the first few problems he would add some or take some away, whatever the problem called for. And it was helping. Being able to see things visually was actually helping me to understand it a little bit. By the time we got to the fourth problem, Darry had me give it a try, adding or removing silverware as I added or subtracted. If I was getting off track, he would correct me and I eventually got to the end with the right answer.

"You got it." He smiled.

"I did?" I couldn't believe it. I had done a math problem of fractions. And I got it right! "Let's do another." I said and Darry laughed at my sudden determination to do my homework. I was just too excited that I was finally starting to get it!

Darry continued to help me through the problems, one by one, until we got to the last few problems.

"Alright, I want you to do these last few yourself and I'm not going to say anything. Let's see how you do." Darry said.

I wasn't sure if I would get them all right, but at this point I was up for the challenge. Darry quietly sat and watched me as I worked the problems out with the silverware, not saying a word. A couple minutes later I had finished and looked up at Darry.

"Done." I said and slid my notebook over to him, feeling a little nervous about my work, but hopeful that had I got them right. The anticipation was killing me.

"Okay," Darry started, "you did get the first two right, but there's something with the last one that you missed." He gestured to the silverware.

I started to double check my work, but couldn't tell what was wrong. "What do I have wrong?"

He pointed to my notebook. "You see this step here?"

I looked at it. "Yeah?"

Darry pointed back to the silverware. "You missed a spoon." He told me as he chuckled to himself.

I looked at the problem again, my eyes darting back and forth between my notebook and the silverware, when I noticed my mistake. "Oh! Oops!" I exclaimed and grabbed the spoon and set it to the side. I quickly erased the mistake on my notebook and fixed it. "There! All done!"

Darry put a hand on my shoulder. "I knew you could do it." He smiled down at me, but then his face got serious. "Vada, I'm sorry I was a little hard on you earlier. I didn't know you were having all this trouble. If you ever need help with your homework, please don't be afraid to come and ask me right away next time, okay?"

I smiled, feeling a big sense of relief wash over me. "It's okay, Darry. I will, I promise. And I'm sorry I talked back to you. I know I shouldn't have."

Darry smiled again. "It's alright. Just don't do it again." His hand moved up to the back of my neck and gave me a few ticklish squeezes making me squeal and scrunch my shoulders. He laughed and let go, looking at the clock. It was almost ten. "It's about time for you to get ready for bed, hmm?"

"I guess so." I said, suddenly feeling pretty tired. We stood from the table and I started heading towards the bathroom to get ready for bed, when I stopped and turned back around. I walked back over to Darry and gave him a hug, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Thank you, Darry."

He hugged me back with his strong arms. "No problem."


	3. Chapter 3

It was finally Friday and I couldn't be happier. We never got homework on Fridays, so Darry always let me hang out with Jenny. Today after school, I was going to her house. I really liked going to Jenny's house because she had fun games and toys for us to play with and her mom always had some sort of snack waiting for us.

Normally, me and Jenny would have asked to have a sleepover, but tomorrow was Pony's track meet to qualify for State. The first races started at nine in the morning and Darry wanted me to get a good night's sleep, so he was coming to pick me up from Jenny's house after supper. I didn't argue. I wanted to stay on his good side.

The clock stuck 3:10 and all of us ran outside of the school, excited it was the weekend. Jenny's mom was already waiting nearby in her car when we spotted her.

Jenny took off. "Race ya!" She yelled behind her.

In a split second I was running after her, trying to catch up, but she was further ahead of me and stopped when she reached the car first.

"Beat you! I win!"

"Not fair! You got a head start. Cheater!" I wasn't really mad and Jenny knew it. We always had fun getting competitve with each other sometimes.

Jenny opened up the back door of the car getting in and I slid in next to her.

Jenny's mom greeted us. "How was school today girls? You happy it's Friday?"

"Yes!" We both exclaimed in unison. Then Jenny proceeded to tell her mom about what had happened during our science lesson today as we pulled away from the school. Mrs. Morris had taken us to the science lab where we got to observe frogs. The frogs were in glass tanks that were sitting on the lab tables and during the middle of the lesson a boy in our class, Jimmy, had sneezed and bumped into one of the tables, causing the tank to slide off the table and onto the floor with a big crash. The frog was loose and started hopping around the room. All of the girls started screaming and running around to get away from the frog as Mrs. Morris was prancing around the room trying to catch it. Me and Jenny had been laughing so hard watching the scene and now that Jenny was retelling the events to her mom, it sent us into another fit of giggles. Jenny's mom laughed with us, imagining the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Well, it sounds like you girls had an exciting day." She said as we came up to their house and turned into the driveway. She parked the car and we all got out and headed into the house. "There's a snack waiting for you girls in the kitchen."

We ran into the kitchen and, sure enough, there was a plate with some fresh baked cookies sitting on the counter. Jenny grabbed two of them and I did the same, taking a bite. They were still warm. We smiled at each other as we enjoyed our cookies and when we finished Jenny asked me if I wanted to go to her room. I nodded and we ran out of the kitchen and down the hall. When we got to her room we decided to play with her animal toys consisting of an assortment of horses and dogs. Jenny and I already knew which ones each of us would pick for we had designated "families" that we chose awhile ago. We each had a spot in her room where we built our own farms, using some of her old blocks to create fences. Our animal families would always go back and forth between the two farms to play together. I had chosen one of my boy horses and she had picked one of her girl horses, so we could pretend that they were in love.

After about an hour of playing with her animals, we decided to put them away and hopped up on her bed.

"Vada," she said after a moment and smiled, "do you have a crush on anyone?"

I guess I hadn't really thought about it in awhile. Last year I had a crush on this boy, Jacob, for awhile, but I honestly couldn't think of anyone I had a crush on right now.

"I actually don't think I do." I answered her. "Do you?" She blushed and I could tell she liked somebody. "Who is it?" I pushed.

She giggled with glee. "Mark Brandston!"

"Mark Brandston?!" Mark was a year older than us and hung out with the popular crowd. I knew a lot of girls in his class had big crushes on him, but I was kind of surprised to hear that Jenny had a crush on him. Since he wasn't in our grade, we never really saw him around much. But Jenny started to tell me that the other day after school she had gone to the park across the street from her house to swing when she saw him and his buddies throwing around a football. Jenny had sat down on the swing when their football came flying towards her and landed near her feet. She had picked it up and threw it back Mark and Jenny said that when he had caught it, he looked at her and said "Nice throw!" before running back over to his friends. Jenny was smiling the entire time she told me the story and while I was happy for her, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. I wish I had a crush on somebody.

We continued to sit on her bed and kept talking for a good while until her mom softly knocked on the door and came into the room.

"Dinner's ready."

We stood up from her bed and followed her mom down to the kitchen. I was pleased to find her parents had made spaghetti and meatballs, one of my favorite meals. Her dad was already seated at the table, helping himself to a serving of spaghetti, when he saw us and smiled. Jenny went over and gave her dad a hug.

"Hi, Daddy."

He huged her back and smiled. "Hi, baby girl." I felt a sad smile tug at my lips as I sat down. At that moment I wished more than anything that I could hug my parents. They always gave the best hugs and made me feel loved and safe. I missed that.

Jenny let go and came back around the table to sit down next to me and started to load up her plate.

"Hi, Vada. How are you today?" Her dad asked.

"I'm good, thanks. How are you?" My parents had always liked me using my manners.

"I'm doing well, thanks for asking. I'm glad you could join us for dinner tonight."

"Thanks for having me. It looks great!"

We had started in on our meal when her dad asked us how our day at school went. Jenny and I looked at each other and started to giggle again about science class. Her dad looked at us with a confused smile while her mom chuckled and shook her head. Jenny retold the story to him and he let out a laugh of his own. The rest of our dinner was filled with fun stories and laughs until we had all finished eating. Jenny and I were helping her parents clean up when we heard a knock on the door. Her mom went to answer the door and I heard her talking to somebody when she called back to the kitchen.

"Vada, Darry is here!"

I finished what I was doing and made my way into the living room, with Jenny following right behind. Jenny's mom had invited Darry inside and she was asking him how things were going. While they were talking, I started to put on my shoes and grabbed my backpack that was sitting by the door.

Darry looked down at me. "You all ready to go?"

"Yeah." I answered and turned to Jenny's mom. "Thank you for dinner and the cookies, Mrs. Simmons."

She smiled and brought me into a side hug. "No problem, dear. You're welcome any time."

Me and Jenny said our goodbyes as Darry and I headed out the door to his truck and made our way home.


	4. Chapter 4

It was really hard for me to get up the next morning, but after Darry's constant hollering for me to get out of bed, I managed to get dressed and made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. The conversation at the table consisted mostly of Darry asking Ponyboy about the events he was competing in today with Soda chiming in every now and then. I didn't really say much, I was just too tired.

However, once we got to the track meet, I started to wake up a little more. It felt good to be outside and breathe in the cool morning air. There were a lot of people milling about the stands and athletes starting to warm up out on the field.

Pony turned to us. "Well, I better go find my coach and check in."

"Alright, Pone." Darry gave Pony's shoulder a squeeze. "Good luck with your first race. You'll do great."

"Thanks, Dar. I'll see you guys later."

We all waved as we watched him walk out toward the field to find his coach and teammates.

"Darry, what time does his first race start?" I asked.

He looked at his watch. "Well, it's a little after 8:30 right now and the meet starts at 9. Pony runs the third event, so maybe around 9:15."

I nodded and we made our way over to the stands to find a place to sit. While waiting for the meet to start, I was listening to Soda tell Darry about this girl named Sandy that came to the DX yesterday. He really seemed to like her and was saying how excited he was to go out with her later tonight. Soda and Darry continued talking for several minutes and I was starting to get a little tired of waiting when I heard the voice of a man announce the first race over the loud speakers. The runners lined up and got set and within a few seconds there was a loud pop of a gun and they took off.

I watched the first two races and when the second one finished I looked over to see Pony walking up to the starting line with several other guys.

I started to get excited, but I also felt nervous for him. "Go, Pony!" I yelled.

Soda joined in. "Yeah! Go, Pone!"

They all got down in position and, when the gun sounded, they bolted. Golly, Pony sure was fast. In a matter of seconds, he was ahead of the rest of the pack. I watched as they went around the first turn of the track, Pony running with his quick and long strides that he used to his advantage. They got to the straight part of the track and I could see he was still gaining distance ahead of the others, little by little. Everyone in the stands was cheering on the runners and it only seemed to get louder when they all came around the second turn into the straight-away towards the finish line. I stood up with excitement as Ponyboy flew past us with the others following behind. He was winning. A couple seconds later he was crossing the finish line.

Me and my brothers all cheered and watched as the other runners made it through the finish. Once the excitement of the race died down, Darry left to go talk to Pony before his next race.

As the day went on, it started to get hot outside and I started to become more agitated while waiting for Pony's next events. It seemed like the wait was getting longer and longer as time passed.

Awhile later, Darry's high school football coach had spotted him and called him over to where he was sitting for a visit. Darry said he'd be back in a bit made his way to the side of the bleachers to meet up with him.

A few more minutes passed and I let out a sigh.

Soda looked down at me. "Something wrong, Vada?"

"I'm bored."

"Don't you like watching Pony run?"

"Well, yeah, that's the exciting part. But it's boring having to wait."

"How about you go do something?"

"Like what?"

He looked around for a second and then pointed over to the other side of him. "How about you go hang with all those kids in the grass over there?"

I leaned forward so I could see around him. There was an open area of grass where a bunch of kids were running around, some younger, some looked about my age. I recognized a group of boys throwing a baseball around as some kids in my class, but I had never really talked to them before, nor did I see any reason to. They could be kinda obnoxious in class sometimes.

I sighed again and stood up. "Okay." I couldn't sit here anymore. I had to do something.

"I'll come get ya when it's time for Pony's next race."

I nodded and made my way down the bleachers and over to the open grass area. Once I got there, I wasn't sure what to do. There was a bunch of little kids playing tag, some groups of girls sitting down and talking, some other kids kicking around a ball, and the group of boys from my class. I didn't really wanna be seen playing with a bunch of little kids and I was too nervous to talk to anybody else, so I just sat. I found myself near the boys in my class and I started watching them throw their baseball around. There were four of them, David, Andrew, Joe, and Tommy. They were talking about sports and debating about their favorite players and who was better. After a bit, I was losing interest in their conversation when Andrew threw the ball to David when he wasn't looking and it hit him smack in the face. The three started laughing at David when I heard myself laugh out loud, causing them all to look over at me. I couldn't help it, it was funny.

"What are you laughing at, Curtis?" David asked, glaring over at me.

My smile quickly faded. "Um, nothing." I replied quickly.

"She's laughing at you getting hit in the face!" Andrew pointed at him and laughed again.

"Shut up, Andy!" David turned his glare over to his friend, but Andrew wasn't afraid of him and kept laughing.

The others joined in again with Andy and continued making fun of him. When I looked back at David I could see his cheeks getting a little red. He seemed embarrassed. And his right eye was starting to sport a purple bruise. That must have hurt. Suddenly, I felt kinda bad for David.

They started throwing the ball around again and continued their conversation, but every couple of minutes, Andy would start laughing again. Okay, it was funny when it happened, but now it was almost starting to get annoying. He just wouldn't let it go. And I could tell David was not having it.

I don't know what got into me, but next thing I know, I picked up a rock and chucked it at Andy, hitting his back.

"Ow! Hey!" He whipped around to look at me. "What the hell was that Curtis?!" I almost thought he was going to come over and beat me up, but when his friends started laughing at him, he turned his focus towards them. "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Tommy laughed.

The tables had turned as they were now making fun of Andy instead. I took this as my chance to leave before anything else happened. I got up and started walking back towards the stands. It had to be almost time for Pony to run again. Before I was too far, I found myself turning back to steal a glance at David, and I was surprised to see him looking at me. We locked eyes for a second and he gave me a smirk before looking back at his friends. I felt a big smile tug at my lips. I couldn't help it. My cheeks felt warm and I knew I was blushing. I didn't really understand where all of this was suddenly coming from but...I guess he was kinda cute.

I got back to Soda with Darry now back next to him and sat down, happy as a clam.

"Hey, just in time, I was about to come get you." Soda said and then took notice of my smile. "You have fun?"

"Uh-huh." I replied, my mind already replaying the scene over and over again in my head.

I couldn't wait to tell Jenny. I think I have a crush.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to those who have reviewed, followed, or favorited this story so far! This chapter is a little shorter, but is a lead up to bigger things to come. This is my first fanfic and I hope I'm doing an okay job! I appreciate you guys.**

When I got to school on Monday, I couldn't wait to see Jenny. I hurriedly walked into the classroom and Jenny smiled at me.

"Hey, Vada! How was the track meet? How did Pony do?"

I smiled. Jenny had always had a thing for Pony. She'll tell me that she has a crush on a boy at school, but is still always asking me about my brother. She would never actually admit it to me, but I just knew. And I know she could tell that I did. "He did really well! Won some of his races and qualified for State, of course. I don't know why he was so worried."

"Yeah, he's so fast! It would have been fun to watch him."

"Of course you'd think that!" I giggled and teased.

She pretended to act shocked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" Then I suddenly remembered what I wanted to tell her. "Oh, Jenny, I have to tell you about something that happened on Saturday!" I scooted closer to her in my desk and quietly relayed the events to her and my new crush on David.

I could tell that Jenny was a little surprised about it being David, but she was excited for me all the same. She squealed. "Oh my goodness, Vada! It's about time you like somebody. So, David, huh? A bad boy..." She teased and I shoved her shoulder and we both laughed.

It was at this moment that David walked into the classroom and sat down with his buddies. He looked over and caught my eye, giving me that same smirk he gave me on Saturday and I blushed. I quickly looked away and Jenny started giggling again, having watched the small exchange.

"Oh, stop it!" I gave her another small shove, but couldn't help but smile.

The rest of the week went on like this, David and I exchanging glances and smiles, but never actually saying anything to each other. I was itching to talk to him, but I was too nervous and didn't really know what I'd say to him anyways.

Then it was Friday. I was sitting and talking to Jenny, waiting for class to start, when Andrew came over to us.

I didn't know what he wanted, but he had a sly smile on his face that was making me nervous. I stammered, "Uh...hi Andrew."

He suddenly extended his hand towards me and I could see he was holding a note. "This is for you."

I'm sure the confusion showed on my face as I slowly took the note. "Um, thanks."

He didn't say anything, just nodded and went to sit back down with David, Joe, and Tommy.

I gave Jenny a curious look and she looked like she was about to explode in her seat. "Well, are you gonna open it or what?" She asked with excitement.

I looked back down at the note in my hands and started to open the folded paper, feeling the stares of David and his friends watching me.

 _Vada,_

 _Meet me at recess after lunch at the corner of the fence by the trees. I wanna talk to you._

 _-David_

I could feel a stupid smile creep across my face as I read it. I heard Jenny gasp and whisper, "Oh my God, he wants to meet with you!"

I'm sure my face was beet red, but I was so excited, I didn't care. I looked over to David and we was still watching me, waiting for my response. I gave him a smile and a nod and his buddies all 'oohed' and started teasing him.

Mrs. Morris stood at the front of the classroom and clapped, getting everyone's attention to start class. All morning I was having a really hard time concentrating on the lessons. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my mind off of David. I was so nervous and excited. I couldn't wait.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the continued support! It really means a lot to me. This chapter is where things are gonna start to take off. Hope you enjoy!**

"Vada, are you gonna eat?" Jenny snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked down at my untouched lunch. "I don't think I can, I'm just too nervous about meeting David! I mean, what if it's actually nothing? What if it's not cause he likes me, but just wants to tell me off. What if it's all a big prank?!" I was started to become more anxious than excited, getting myself worked up as these thoughts popped into my head.

"Would you relax? Did you not see how all his friends were reacting when you read the note he gave you? He obviously likes you!"

"You really think so?"

"I know so! Trust me, you have nothing to worry about."

I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding and smiled. "Thanks, Jenny."

She smiled back and took a big bite of her sandwich. I was still too nervous to be hungry, but I took a bite of my own, knowing that if I didn't I'd be starving the rest of the school day. We started chatting about other things and making fun of Mrs. Morris and soon enough we were dismissed for recess.

We walked outside into the schoolyard and when I looked over to where David wanted to meet me, I saw he was already there waiting. I turned to Jenny. "Well, here goes nothing."

"Good luck, Vada. Tell me everything later!" She gave me a playful shove and took off to a hiding spot. I knew she was going to watch.

I took another deep breath and started walking over to David. When I got over there, we both smiled.

"Hey." David said and looked down.

I felt myself look down as well, trying to hide my blush. "Hey." I replied.

It was silent for a couple seconds and was beginning to feel really awkward, until David spoke. "It was pretty funny when you threw that rock at Andy at the track meet on Saturday."

I smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I never woulda guessed you had it in you."

"Well, he was just getting on my nerves. I mean, it was funny when you got hit in the face, but he wouldn't shut the hell up about it." That word felt really weird coming from my mouth. I never swore, Darry warned he would wash my mouth out with soap if I did, but I was trying to sound tough. I hoped it would make David like me more.

David laughed. "You're pretty cool, Curtis."

I blushed. "You're pretty cool, yourself."

Another couple seconds of silence passed again. "So..."

"So?..." I mimicked.

"Do you like me, Curtis?"

I was not expecting that question. I could feel my mouth drop open in surprise as I stood there, unsure of what to say. Of course, I liked him, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to admit that. I tried to compose myself as I thought of what to say. "Do you like me?" I shot his question back at him.

"You first."

"No, you first."

"I asked you first, first."

He had me there. I didn't know what else to say. I looked down at the ground and felt my face getting red again. Kicking at some dirt I quietly answered. "Maybe..." I was nervous of what he would say.

"Well, maybe I like you too."

My head shot up as I looked at him. Jenny was right. I guess I should have known that he liked me too, but it was still surprising to hear him saying. It made me nervous, excited, and relieved all at the same time. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't my mouth to form any words, so I just smiled.

"So," David continued, "you wanna meet me here again after lunch on Monday?"

Finally, I found my voice. "Sure, I'd like that."

He leaned up against the fence, sticking his hands in his pockets, trying to regain his tough composure. "Cool."

Suddenly we both heard Andy yelling from across the field, holding a football. "David, you done talking to your girlfriend, yet? We're waiting for you!" Tommy and Joe were with him and the three of them started laughing and teasing us.

"Oh, shut up!" David yelled back to him and turned to me. "I better go over there. I'll see you back in class."

"Yeah, alright." We gave each other one last smile before David ran off and tackled Andy, stealing the football from him. I watched for a few seconds and then ran to find Jenny. We practically ran into each other as she came around the side of the swings.

"Vada! How'd it go? Tell me everything!"

"Well," I felt the biggest smile creep on my face, "he likes me!"

Jenny squealed. "I knew it! I knew he liked you!" She jumped into me, giving me a hug as we both laughed with excitement. "So does this mean you have a boyfriend now?"

I actually hadn't really thought about it in that way. We both admitted that we liked each other, but he never asked me to be his girlfriend. Then I remembered what Andy yelled to David. "I think so!" I couldn't believe it as I said it, it all happened so suddenly. I have a boyfriend.

I filled Jenny in, telling her our exact conversation and giving her every detail I could. Right as I was finishing telling her, the bell rang and it was time to go back inside to class. I practically skipped the whole way there and Jenny laughed and shared my excitement. I was on cloud nine. We sat down in our desks and my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much, but I couldn't wipe it off my face. Today was going so perfect and nothing was going to drag me down.

Or so I thought.


	7. Chapter 7

It was kind of a bore sitting in class for the rest of the day, but I was still so happy I didn't care too much. The final bell rang and we were all finally dismissed for the weekend. Jenny had asked me if I wanted to hang out at her house tomorrow and go see a movie with her and her mom. I was really hoping Darry would let me. I wanted to keep gushing over today's events with her. As Jenny and I walked out the front doors, I started looking around for Two-Bit, but he wasn't here yet.

Jenny spotted her mom waiting in their car. "Well, hopefully I'll see you tomorrow, Vada! Call me later and let me know."

"Will do! See you later." I waved to her as she walked away. I stood at the doors for a couple minutes and still no Two-Bit, so I decided to go sit down on the grass, watching students, teachers, and parents mill about. Then I heard a voice.

"So, I hear you have a little boyfriend now."

I looked up and saw it was Mary Ann and two of her friends. They were some soc girls in my class and Mary Ann had always been after me for as long as I can remember. Usually Jenny was always with me to help me deal with them and was always a little more outspoken than I was. Slowly, I stood up and tried to build up some confidence. "Yeah, I do."

Mary Ann and her friends laughed. "Oh, so you think you're cool cause you have a boyfriend?"

"I never said that."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. David will always be a no good hood and you'll always be a piece of greasy trash."

I knew she was trying to grind my gears, but hearing her and her friends laughter and her calling me 'greasy trash' really got to me. I could feel the anger rising inside of me. "Well, you're never gonna be anything but a stupid, greedy soc!"

She walked up closer to me. "What did you call me, greaser?" She shoved my shoulders causing me to take a couple steps back.

"You heard me." I went and pushed her back, but then she started pulling my hair. I tried grabbing at her hands to pry them off and she when she shoved herself into me and I fell on the ground. Mary Ann and her friends started laughing again, but that only added to my fuel and the next thing I know I jumped back up and tackled her. I sat on her and started trying to hit at her face while her friends were yelling and attempting to pull me off. I felt my fist make one good connection with her face and heard her cry out in pain. Soon I felt myself being pulled swiftly away from her and set on the ground. I turned to see that it was the principal and he gave me a cold stare. As fast as it came, my anger suddenly drained out of me.

"Ladies, what is going on here?!" He yelled.

Mary Ann's friends stood her up and she started crying, holding her nose. Then with her free hand she pointed at me. "She attacked me Mr. Fletcher! Look what she did!" There was blood running from her nose. As scared as I was about being in trouble, I couldn't help the small smile that made it's way to my face.

Mr. Fletcher took notice. "This is nothing to be proud of, Miss Curtis!" My smile faded. "Mary Ann, I want you to go to the nurse's office and then come and see me."

"But she-"

He cut her off. "Now don't think that I didn't see you fighting as well, Miss Douglas." Mary Ann huffed and started making her way to the nurse's office, escorted by her two friends. Mr. Fletcher turned back to me. "Follow me to my office, Miss Curtis."

My palms started to sweat. I wasn't sure how much trouble I was going to be in, but I didn't want to find out. I was scared of what Mr. Fletcher was going to say. But even more so of what Darry was going to think about all of this. As we walked into his office, I sat down on the chair in front of his desk and swallowed hard.

He sat down across from me. "Well, do you care to tell me what was going on out there?"

Actually, I did care. I didn't want to. But of course if I told him that, I would be in even more trouble. "Um, I was waiting to be picked up when Mary Ann came over and started making fun of me." I didn't really know what else to say about it.

"And you decided violence was the best answer?"

"Well, she pushed me first."

"I don't care who did what first, Miss Curtis!" He raised his voice. "I will not tolerate any fighting at this school. Both of you girls should know better and you should be hoping that Mary Ann's nose isn't broken. Starting Monday, you will be staying after school for detention for the rest of the week and you will not be going out for recess."

"But, it will be the last week of school!" I couldn't believe I'd have to spend the last week of school staying inside during recess and serving detentions every day all because of Mary Ann and her stupid friends.

"And?" Mr. Fletcher challenged. When I didn't respond, he continued. "I also expect you to apologize to Mary Ann. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, go sit outside my office while I call your brother."

My stomach dropped at hearing those words. Darry was not going to be happy about this. I walked out of his office and sat on the bench, getting more and more nervous each minute. After what felt like the longest twenty minutes of my life, I saw Darry come through the main school doors and walk down the hall towards me. Boy, did he look mad. He didn't say anything to me as he reached the office and went inside. I waited in the hallway for another couple minutes before Darry came back out.

He grabbed onto my arm. "Let's go." The way he said that scared me. Low and monotone, like a warning. I knew he was going to burst when we got home. I let him drag me out to the truck and we got inside. The ride home was silent, but I could tell Darry had a tight grip on the steering wheel. When we pulled up to our house, I almost wanted to run inside and lock myself in my room, but I knew if I did that, he would be even more angry with me. I slowly opened the car door and hopped out, following him inside.

He pointed to the couch. "Sit down." I obeyed and sat on the couch, looking down at my hands.

"Vada Marie, what on earth were you thinking?!" Darry yelled. "You know better than to be fighting and your principal said you may have broken that girl's nose! Now, you better tell me what happened right now."

Suddenly my fear turned into anger. I looked up at him. "Mary Ann and her stupid friends were making fun of me and then she pushed me, what was I supposed to do? Besides, none of this would have happened if Two-Bit had been there to get me!" As soon as I said that, I realized I was actually mad at Two-Bit. Where had he been? If Two-Bit had been there to get me like he said he would, then I wouldn't have been harassed by Mary Ann and her friends, and none of this would have happened!

"Vada, don't you dare talk back me like that. I'll deal with Two-Bit later, but if those girls were making fun of you, you should have gone to get a teacher instead of punching someone in the face!"

"Darry, she called me a trashy greaser."

Darry sighed and his face seemed to soften just a little bit. "I'm sorry she called you that, but that's still no reason to go after her like that." I sighed. It just wasn't fair. "You're grounded for a week, that includes no tv and you'll be on dish duty every night. Got it?"

"But Darry, Jenny invited me over to her house tomorrow and see a movie with her and her mom and I really wanna go!"

"Well, I guess you're just going to have to miss it."

"But Darry-"

"You're not going and that's final! Vada Marie, I will make it two weeks if you keep arguing with me!"

I looked down, upset and defeated. How was any of this my fault? Yeah, I punched Mary Ann, but she deserved it! And it's not my fault that Two-Bit wasn't there, if he was then I wouldn't have been there for Mary Ann to push around! It really wasn't fair at all.

Darry continued. "Now, I want you to go to your room and you are to stay there for the rest of the night, except for when I call you out for supper. Understand?" I just nodded my head. At this point I was so frustrated that I feared if I tried to speak, I would start to cry. I could feel tears start to prickle at the corner of my eyes. Darry huffed at my lack of a verbal response, but didn't push for one. "Go on, then."

I stood up, still looking down at the floor and quickly made my way past Darry and into my room. Slamming the door, I ran and jumped onto my bed and started bawling into my pillow. ' _I hate Mary Ann! I hate her! And I hope I did break her nose!'_ I thought as the tears kept coming and started to soak through my pillowcase. But as much as I hated Mary Ann and as mad as I was at Two-Bit for not being there, I just really didn't want Darry to be so mad at me. Sure, I probably made it worse cause I was arguing, but he just wasn't understanding my side of things and it was making me mad! I had never directly been called a greaser like that before and it hurt. It hurt a lot. And I didn't like what she said about David either, but I couldn't say anything about that, especially to Darry. He would freak out if he knew I had a boyfriend and would probably ground me for the rest of my life.

I continued to cry for a good while until my tears ran dry. Eventually, my eyes started to droop and I yawned, suddenly feeling very tired and let myself fall asleep.


End file.
